Retention and recruitment of Members

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Why are Members so vital to a grassroots political party?

• Members provide more than just fee paying subscriptions

• Members might attend fund raising events, buy Draw Tickets, attend Balls, bid at Auctions, help put together fund raising events and provide physical and material support

• In fact, an annual 25 euro subscription could become an average 125 euro asset – provided you stay in touch and make them feel valued

• They will also have friends and neighbours who might like to sign up as well or, if not join, contribute by attending events and buying Draw Tickets

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Why are Members so vital to a grassroots political party?

• Aside, though, from raising much needed funds your Members do three other vital things for you…

• They bring talent, skills and voluntary help to the Local Party

• They become volunteer members of your local Campaign Teams, they display posters at election time, they deliver literature and survey voters

• They will also help run your Party’s campaigning 24/7 and find local government candidates – or even become your local government candidates. They ARE your Local Party

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Why are Members so vital to a grassroots political party?

• Remember…

• Members bring money, bring talent, bring votes

• No Members = No Party

• Cherish them!

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An ideal schedule for Membership renewal?

• The Membership renewal process should operate without fuss or undue wastage of manpower or money

• It saves time and effort if you can co-ordinate Membership

renewal via a standard annual renewal date each year

• Always use a reply paid envelope. It will improve your response rate by making it easier for Members to reply

• Try, though, to encourage Members to renew via a Standing Order

• Membership cards and a “Thank you” letter to be sent by return #4 – 12/19

An ideal schedule for Membership renewal?

• Send reminders to those who have not replied after 3 weeks • By the end of 6 weeks over 65% of Members should have renewed

their annual subscription

• Do not hesitate to send second and third reminder letters

• Follow up residual “stragglers” with a phone call or personal visit

• This leaves 9-10 months of the year to concentrate on recruiting new Members to the Local Party

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An ideal schedule for Membership renewal?

• On the previous slide it is advised that Members should, ideally, be signed up via annual Standing Orders

• Standing Orders save a great deal of time and money

• They also reduce or even eliminate lost Members

• Monthly Standing Orders, at a pro-rata rate, helps cash flow

• It is worth spending a fair amount of time establishing Stating

Order renewals. It will most certainly pay off in the long run

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Potential benefits of being a Party Member…

• Why would someone become a paid up, subscribing, Party Member? There has to be some benefit to them, surely? These benefits might include some of the following:

- One member, one vote in the election of the Leader of the Party - A vote in the selection of candidates, at a local level, for Parliamentary, European and Local Government elections - Representation on the Local Party’s governing body

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Potential benefits of being a Party Member…

- A vote on key policy ideas for the next set of elections - Direct influence in the development of policy - Receipt of annual reports from the Party Leader and senior officials of the National and Local Parties - A national, printed, Party magazine - Various exclusive Members’ offers

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How to make contact with potential Party Members

• There are a great many ways to approach new Members and all will work in the right circumstances

• Part of the trick is to choose the method that best suits your local

area and the resources that you have available

• Methods might include… - Digital recruitment drives normally work extremely well but messaging is key

- Direct mail – including a pre-printed application form - Appeal via your twice yearly Draw Ticket letter to residents

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How to make contact with potential Party Members

- Establish a hand-picked team of membership canvassers - Plan to contact 50 potentials EVERY week - Match like with like. Bank managers are best placed to recruit other Bank Managers, Nurses will be the best recruiters of other Nurses and so on - Don’t be discouraged, even if they don’t want to join they might well be candidates for events and Draw Tickets in future

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How to make contact with potential Party Members

- Canvassers are a very special breed of people who; must be confident to represent the Party’s cause; who don’t consider Membership recruitment as “begging”; who are willing to give up a regular time each week; and who aren’t easily discouraged - Membership is not a quick sell, it requires quality time to explain Member benefits (that’s why THERE MUST BE SOME BENEFITS!) and explain the need for campaign funding - Agree with your canvassers the key points that should be made before you start, practise with each other to generate confidence before hitting the streets for real! - Make sure that your canvassers are following up an initial direct mail approach. It elicits far greater results that way…

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How to make contact with potential Party Members

- If residents will not commit to joining, phone them within a few days in order to follow up and, hopefully, close the deal - Always make sure that your canvassers collect essential contact details from residents. Landlines, mobile numbers, email addresses etc are all key pieces of data that need recording - Ensure your canvassers have a follow up letter and calling card, to leave at a property, if the resident does not answer the door - Organise information evenings with a carefully selected list of invitees and make sure you have a good spread of existing Members as well as the local Member of Parliament or MEP

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How to find new Members • Check your canvassing records, canvassed supporters are obvious

targets for Membership recruitment • Ask each current Member to identify one possible new Member

• Re-contact lapsed and “resigned” Members

• Check the names and addresses on Draw ticket stub sales

• Select “good” roads and conduct a door-to-door survey on a local

issue to establish Membership potential

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How to find new Members • Utilise digital engagement via recruitment advertisements

• Check Always have Membership application forms at every function • Check the local letters page of the local newspaper where a resident

makes supportive comments

• Run and regularly publish a Branch league table on new Members recruited with special prizes for the top recruiting Branch

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Words and questions in canvassing for new Members

• There are three attitudes you can assume when canvassing for new Members on the doorstep:

– Aggressive – never

– Passive – never

– Assertive – always, but do not over-do it!

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Words and questions in canvassing for new Members

• There are various types of questions you can ask: – Open – who, why, when, where, what and how (always ask these

particularly to start a conversation)

– Closed – will, could, would, should, did, have etc (these generally result in a “yes” or “no” answer. Never ask such questions, unless you are summarising a situation or gaining a commitment)

– Leading – the answer is given in the question “You will join the Party won’t you?”

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Words and questions in canvassing for new Members

– Probing – used to go deeper than an open question and depends on the words “exactly”/”specifically”/”precisely” being used in the question

– Hypothetical – helps to explore options such as “let’s imagine …?” or “How would you…?”

– Loaded – contains an underlying personal suggestion to an ongoing conversation “So, what do you think of the Government’s record on health provision locally?”

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The art of communication • Research shows that there are three elements in communication:

- Words ( 7%) - Intonation or tone of voice (38%) - Body language (55%)

• Many experts claim that the relative importance of these in getting your message across are highlighted in the brackets above

• So, if true, face to face is the ultimate medium for effective communications. So, always sound interested or interesting!!

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10 principles to produce effective recruitment letters

• Always use white envelopes – ideally with a handwritten address

• Always use a stamp – do not use franked mail

• Your letter should be more than just one page. Ideally four pages – Yes. Four pages

• Always include the reason for wanting the recipient as a Member

• Always include a local political campaign in your letter

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10 principles to produce effective recruitment letters

• Always make an important point in a PS at the end of the letter. The PS is often the first – and only line – that is read!

• Use bold typeface and underlining in places for effect

• Keep the paragraphs short and use one sentence paragraphs whenever you can

• Break sentences over the turn of a page

• Try and make the appeal come from the Member of Parliament

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